September 28, 2014 Update: In the one week since I posted this story, Bruce has been flooded with emails. He is working his way through all emails, and he is responding to everyone by email or phone. He is also trying to defend his cottage from being bulldozed by the government, as described in the article below. So if you have not received a reply, please be patient. He does plan to reply to everyone.

Bruce Evans is man on a mission. And he is looking for other people with Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity to join him in creating an EHS refuge in southeast Australia, on land outside of Wangaratta, Victoria in the King Valley.

The land is available for occupancy right now for anyone who can come with a van, tent or caravan. Those who arrive first may be able to have one of the bedrooms in Bruce’s cottage.

People who want to visit the land for a temporary “holiday” from wireless radiation are welcome. But Bruce is also looking for electrosensitive people who want to stay long-term, build their own cottages on his family’s land, participate in the farm and help create a community safe from electropollution.

There is an urgency to Bruce’s mission. The land his cottage is on is government land. It has been used by his family for more than 150 years, and it adjoins a vast tract of land that his family owns outright. The government is now threatening to seize the small portion of government land and demolish Bruce’s cottage, despite an existing contract that would (in theory) prevent such action. The showdown with the government could happen next month, in early October 2014.

Bruce Evans, a 49-year-old web designer with EHS, wants people to come join him on his rural farm in southeast Australia to create an EHS Refuge.

“I want to bring lots of people with the same condition as me to this property and declare it a sanctuary for EHS sufferers,” says Bruce. “I want this area declared as a sanctuary where the telcos cannot infringe, where we can be left alone and not be irradiated.”

The nearest town is 30 kilometres away, and according to Bruce the radiation is minimal at one end of the town. “You can sit in the street and have a coffee, no problem,” says Bruce. “There is also an abundance of wineries and cheese factories with free tasting on the other side of the mountain. There are very picturesque valleys and farms everywhere here.”

Bruce is 49 years old and works as a web designer. It is a profession he has been able to relocate to his rural cottage in King Valley, since the work is largely done online. He says other electrosensitive people with similar web-based businesses could do likewise on this property.

Life in city “unbearable”

“I have severe EHS and cannot live in the city, as it is unbearable,” he says. “I am a prisoner in my own home there and cannot go outside for longer than half an hour. And even then, I have to run like a rat in a maze to avoid the phone tower locations. I was lucky that my father had this cottage in the hills that has no, or extremely limited, phone coverage. I can live here without any problems from phone towers.”

A herd of goats from the goat farm across the road is fond of grazing in Bruce’s yard.

Bruce says he would be devastated if the government bulldozes the cottage that has become his own safe haven, and one that could shelter a few other EHS people as well. However, it won’t be the end of his sanctuary plans, since his family owns a much larger block of land two kilometres away.

“We have vast tracts of land that are completely owned by us and cannot be taken away,” says Bruce “It is a beautiful countryside with plenty of trees and much scope for secluded living. My father is willing to let people come here and build their own cottages, grow their own food and put in a little bit of farm work to earn their keep. There is some work in the surrounding districts with various farms and vineyards. There may be some work for people who have website or IT experience,” he adds.

In addition to the family farm on the property, Bruce is interested in developing communal facilities for the EHS refuge such as a communal kitchen, internet hub and gym suitable for yoga, martial arts and more. People with internet-based businesses could run their business from the property. Healing businesses such as meditation, yoga or massage would also be quite feasible and welcome.

“We need people here now, today, this week,” says Bruce. “Even if you can only come for a couple of days or a week to have a look around. This is very beautiful country, and I aim to keep it radiation free.”

King Valley is located midway between Moyhu and Whitfield. See map below, or download map here: Map of Wangaratta Area.

by Kim Goldberg – April 19, 2014

Where Can We Live?

Watch the 7-minute trailer here:

Where Can We Live is a 2011 documentary film by director Hélène Aastrup-Samuels tracing the lives of two unrelated Swedish women and their young families as each woman, in her own way, struggles to find peace and safety from the toxicity of wireless radiation. Lisa and Linn are electrosensitive, and each has been forced to abandon the life she knew (including job, home, education, and city) in order to escape the nearly ubiquitous presence of wireless devices.

The director and her crew followed each woman for three years to produce a film that reveals both the logistical and psychological price paid by those suffering from this growing environmental illness. The final result is a narrative work that switches back and forth between the two unfolding sagas throughout the course of the 42-minute film.

The film opens with Lisa and her young children at their small off-grid cottage in the Swedish countryside. For many of us, this would be an idyllic existence. But when one is required to live this way—far from the amenities of the city, and with no electricity—it can also be confining. For Lisa, it meant the end of her academic studies and her ability to have a paying job, relying instead on her husband to support them all.

Within minutes, the film cuts away to Linn’s story, which begins in Stockholm where she is a computer engineer. By the end of the film, after several moves and job changes, Linn is also ensconced in a country home with minimal exposure to electromagnetic radiation. She is still a computer engineer, but she is now enclosed in a specially designed workplace with much shielding.

Lisa found peace from electro-pollution by moving to an off-grid cottage in the Swedish countryside with her family. (Photo courtesy of Eira Film)

The director’s cinéma vérité style of filmmaking, in which the camera follows each woman in her daily activities and lets each woman speak directly to the camera about the impact of electrosensitivity of her life, ends up supplying us with a startlingly frank portrait of the full scope of electrosensitivity. (And, although this may not have been the director’s intention, the film is also an excellent travelogue for life in the Swedish countryside. I was ready to pack my bags by the end of the film.)

A highlight of the film is the “house call” from Swedish electrosensitivity physician Dr. Ulrika Åberg, who has seen more than 700 electrosensitive patients over 15 years of treating this problem. Recognizing that electrosensitive people are often unable to travel or return to a city, she goes to them when necessary. We meet her when she arrives by bus to visit Lisa in the countryside.

Dr. Åberg describes Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity as “a barrel overflowing”. On the bottom, she says, “we have metal fillings and other toxins from pesticides and other things.” Add to that, the ever-increasing radiation in our daily lives, plus the emotional and psychological and financial stress that results when a person can no longer function as before, and it is a recipe for total health collapse.

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re·fu·gi·um—An area that has escaped changes occurring elsewhere, thereby providing suitable habitat in which organisms can survive through a period of unfavorable conditions. [from Latin refugium, from refugere to flee away, from re- + fugere to escape]

Kim Goldberg is an award-winning writer in Nanaimo, British Columbia. She is the author of six books and more than 2,000 articles. Kim holds a degree in Biology from University of Oregon and is an avid birdwatcher and nature lover. Read more about Kim here. Email: goldberg@ncf.ca